Watching as Stefan held an Ether block and Ker Gem in either hand, Daneel's eyes were as round as the moon.
"Ah, I see you get the general concept. Now, all that's left is the actual act of condensing the Energy. Let's get started with Jaggrv first. He has the most usual method."
Nodding, Daneel once again went through everything he had just seen.
After his surprise due to the method that Luther had used had faded, he had felt quite indignant as he felt that he hadn't done anything deserving of such malice from these top assassins.
Still, it was a fact that he was the reason behind them losing possibly decades worth of earnings.
Seeing the anger and impatience on their faces, he had actually felt a bit of pity, and had decided to do something for them in return if he had the chance later on.
Of course, only after he taught them a lesson for this.
Regardless, he decided to be like a sponge to soak up everything they had to say when he had a chance so that he could rush through to become a Warrior right away.
After all, the more time he had to master the inheritances, the better.
The first thing that had been shown to him had been these two items: the Ether block and the Ker Gem.
In Stefan's words, the change from being a Human to a Warrior was best shown in this way.
The Energy in the Ether block was in the mist form, swirling around aimlessly while confined inside the rectangular shape.
Meanwhile, inside the Ker Gem, a thicker material could be seen, which almost looked like a liquid.
It was flowing throughout the gem artfully, and its beauty was something Daneel marveled at each time he held one to train.
Condensation!
Of course!
Even before Stefan had spoken, Daneel had understood the concept by seeing these two.
It turned out that he was right.
The process of stepping to the Warrior realm meant condensing all the Energy absorbed by the body and mageroot into a higher form, so that an individual could accommodate more to proceed on his path of power.
Apparently, the Energy which was absorbed had the weird quirk that it needed some kind of stimulus before it automatically condensed.
There were conditions for the chance of this stimulus happening to occur: for one, the body and/or the mageroot had to be at the peak of the Human realm, meaning that further training was impossible.
The second condition was the most important: there had to be a need for the Energy to condense.
According to Stefan, this was where the method became fuzzy.
This 'need' was difficult to put into words to explain to an individual, but Daneel actually found himself comparing it to something back on Earth.
He had been reminded of the act of weight-lifting to gain muscle.
The human body would usually not dedicate resources to build muscle unless there was a 'need' which arose when the individual tried to push past their limits.
Of course, although there were other scientific processes involved such as the breakdown and rebuilding of muscle fibers, the essence was the same: 'need'.
Clearly, the concept was similar. However, there, what needed to be done was simple.
Here, that was not the case.
One had to find their own 'need', and this could apparently only be done with time and experience, both of which Daneel did not have.
Thankfully, he had 5 very eager individuals for that purpose.
First up was Jaggrv. Standing in front of Daneel, he folded his hands and began.
"Kid, listen up, I'll only be saying this once. My process was simple. I sat and trained. And I cursed at my body repeatedly, calling it weak. One day, I think I just made it fed up, because I felt all of the Energy converging on itself and changing into a higher state. I followed the same thing for my Mageroot."
Seriously?
As Jaggrv walked away, Stefan walked forward with a sheepish expression on his face.
"That's the usual method?"
Hearing Daneel ask this question, Stefan smiled helplessly and said, "Weirdly enough, yes. It is the method of self-motivation. By constantly scolding his own body, Jaggrv managed to create the 'need' to change."
Well, that did make sense. After all, it was said that a good pep talk could do wonders before a game.
However, Daneel got a query.
"How long did it take?"
"Er…2 years. That's why he went first. Anyway, Kerrt is next."
Kerrt was the name of the introverted reptilian.
"I…sat down with a singular goal and trained, even though the Energy kept leaving my body. In between, I slowly took contracts which tested me and pushed me a little bit more toward my limit each time. Eventually, I stepped through in a year and a half."
This method made sense, too.
By incrementally pushing himself continuously, Kerrt had become a Warrior.
However, again, it was too time-consuming.
Next up was the snivelly man who had rejected Daneel beforehand.
"I fought with a Warrior level individual, the sect master during my time, daily. While doing so, I kept trying to copy him. His movements, his speed, his actions. All of them. One day, something just clicked. I only took 8 months."
Imitation.
By watching and going through the same motions, this reptilian had instigated the 'need'.
Daneel couldn't help but be fascinated.
Clearly, every individual who reached the peak of the Human level had the ability to step through.
However, how they did so was so varied.
However, after this, the two remaining people, Stefan, and the previous sect leader, stepped up together.
The previous sect leader was the one who spoke.
"Both of us have the same method, and it is the fastest one, but also the most dangerous. After we speak, you have to make a choice regarding which one you want to follow. We will not force you to pick any particular method; whichever one you choose, we will throw our full support behind your back. Our method was dying. During the time when we reached peak Human level, both of us chose contracts which were very difficult. During their course, we endured critical injuries. Don't be mistaken-these are two separate incidents, we did not go on the same mission together. The injuries almost lead to our death. In Stefan's case, even his heart stopped beating for a few seconds before he was resuscitated. Somehow, we fought through the pain and survived. This led us to break through."
Breaking through on the border between life and death!
Of course, this made sense most of all.
An incident that almost claimed the life of the body had coaxed it towards the breakthrough.
Daneel felt excited on hearing it, but what Stefan said next after the previous sect leader fell silent sent chills through his spine.
"Don't get your hopes up, just yet. After you sent your request, I went and had a look at the medical records in the sect. Like us, there were 54 other peak Human level individuals in recent history who also sustained critical injuries before returning to the sect. I checked their cases personally; their level of injuries were almost similar to mine and his. Of them, 28 died, 10 lost their entire prowess, and except 5, the rest remained at their level. The success rate is very, very low, and we can't even judge what the criteria are for this method to succeed. It is certainly not willpower, as these individuals were each known to possess hearts that could withstand anything. So, it is up to you. In this method, time is not a factor. One individual in history broke through just a month after he became a peak Human."
Hearing this, Daneel fell silent.
Seeing that he was thinking, Stefan and the rest gave him some space.
From everything he had heard, all the clues pointed to one thing: somehow, the body had to feel the 'need'.
Time was short, but if he chose the route of critical injuries, there was a real risk of dying or losing power. After all, with the medical miracles that were possible with magic, the meaning of the word 'critical' must be terrifying.
However, the other methods were too slow.
After thinking for a few minutes, Daneel made a decision.
He had no mood to play with his life, but as he had learned during the ordeal with Skrrag when he had obtained the inheritance, hardships were necessary to step forward.
So, he settled on the plan to first try the other methods for a while, before proceeding towards the method of injuring himself, or getting injured in a fight, to try and break through.
After deciding, he didn't hesitate.
Daneel completely threw himself into the schedule prepared by the top assassins after he made his intention known.
In the mornings, he would try self-motivation, followed by a session of futile training in the afternoon, after which he would spar with the assassins in the evening.
In this way, days passed, but with each day in which there was no sign of a breakthrough, Daneel felt tempted to begin life-or-death sparring.
A week passed, and with impatience, Daneel realized that these methods were just not working.
Hence, he called the top assassins to announce that even if it meant facing death up close, he would fight with all he had and allow himself to get injured.
They agreed, and this was followed by 3 days that Daneel would never forget in his life.
Each day, he would be injured to the boundary between life and death. He had to allow this to be done while conserving his trump cards, as he couldn't let others know about them.
Each night, he would be healed, but there was no change.
Daneel was at his wit's end. But, with no other choice, he continued, as there was no other way.
However, on the morning of the fourth day, one of his trinkets vibrated.
Someone had step foot in the vicinity of the Withering Leaf Sect Headquarters.